| Zac Dubel
Poulsbo - Washington - USA Sponsors:
Growing up in a small Norwegian town just west of Seattle across the Puget Sound Zac began his love affair with the board. By the 8th grade Zac was working the concrete on skate wheels trying to fight off boredom that comes from long rainy Washington winters. It was only a natural progression to start snow boarding with 6 ski areas within 2 hours from his home. Ten years of recreational snow boarding was to follow. |
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"In '96 I moved to the Mojave Desert and there met Dr. Dune. Since
snow is seriously lacking in this area Dr.D's prompting to try sandboarding
seemed to me as the logical alternative." Zac relates. "Sandboarding would
allow me to board all year round". It didn't take another nudge, Zac was
fully ready to ride the dunes! "My first experience
was at Red Rock Canyon, California. It's a short dune bank but close enough to make it worth the effort". The next trip was to the Sand Master Jam itself at Dumont Dunes and a date with destiny lay before Z which would change his views forever. |
| "Places like Dumont are really cool because you can ride this enormous
face then look back up from the bottom of the dune to see your carves
on a mountain of sand. It's an incredible sight"! Zac went on to
place second in the "Drags" competition, just 6/100ths of a second
behind world champion, Marco Malaga. Not bad Z, we all held our breath
the entire run.
All sports have their famous spots. Burnside, Oregon for skate boarding, Whistler, B.C. for snow boarding and Zac's choice is Los Osos, California for sandboarding. "It is my favorite because it has everything, the beach, nice dunes, variety and vegetation to air over". This photo to the right is what Z is talking about when he speaks of Los Osos "Air". |
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 placed him at world class level. |
Sandboarding isn't only about deep carving and big air
though. Sandboarding is about having a great time and building lasting
memories with your friends too. With his refreshing attitude Zac didn't
have trouble drawing people to him. Making new friends where
ever he goes is second nature. "Telling people all about sandboarding
is something I really enjoy". His enthusiasm is contagious so it wasn't
long before Zac's friends were following him down the dunes in like
manner.
We wonder what's next for Zac and for the future of sandboarding? " Personally I enjoy competing and can see a solid future for this sport building in the U.S. as well as the world. I hope to compete in events in other countries like Australia or in Europe but will ride anywhere, anytime". Zac has now returned to Washington and looks forward to scouting new locations for sandboard events in the Northwestern United States and act as ambassador for Sandboard Magazines efforts. Actually, this gives me genuine comfort for I can't think of a better image for this sport than the one Z portrays. |
